Five Stages
by Silverone
Summary: A series of TakiSakano drabbles done for the stagesoflove comm on livejournal. Theme five, commitment. Sakano needs Taki to do something for him.
1. Intoxication

Title: Intoxicated  
Author/Artist: silvermagess  
Fandom: Gravitation  
Characters: Taki/Sakano  
Theme: Five Stages of Love, Attraction  
Rating: PG-13  
Words: 500

"Well, you know, I'm available, unlike Seguchi." Sakano had just stared at Taki, as the vocalist tossed back a glass of whisky. It was the strangest thing Taki had said to him since they'd started frequenting the same bar and that was saying a lot. It had been a coincidence the first few times they'd met, but after awhile, the meetings and the conversations that had followed had become something Sakano looked forward to. They talked about almost everything, ranging from the weather to pornography. Whenever they got to the inevitable topic of Tohma, a fight would usually start and one would leave in a huff, but it was usually forgotten the next time they spoke.

Despite Taki's views on his boss, Sakano enjoyed the routine. Routine was what he lived for and it wasn't every day that someone like Taki acknowledged him. Of course, this kind of acknowledgement wasn't what he'd been expecting. "What do you mean by available?"

"What do you think I mean?" There was silence, Sakano too mortified to even admit what he thought Taki meant. "Never mind, you..." Taki mumbled the rest to himself and Sakano decided not to ask, downing his own drink.

Of course, why would Taki mean that? And if he had, it was only because of intoxication, not because he thought Sakano was worth it. Which was actually just a little irritating. "If you have something to say, say it to my face."

Taki set down his glass and swiveled around in his seat so that he was facing Sakano. He then rested a hand on Sakano's arm. "You need to either stop saving yourself for him or stop whining about your love life. I personally think option one is the better choice."

"You're offering yourself up to me?" Taki narrowed his eyes at Sakano, causing him to flush. "Well, when you say available, you mean..."

"Idiot. What makes you think I'd waste my time talking to you if I wasn't interested?" Taki turned away from him, looking off to the side, sulking as he often did when he felt he'd been snubbed.

At that moment, Sakano's heart was jumping to his throat. He didn't know if he should be offended or elated by those words. Plus, Taki not being sober made things more problematic. Before he could think it through though, Sakano found his mouth working on its own. "Then how about a date next Friday? I mean, it'd be nice to see you when you're not drunk."

He thought he saw the back of Taki's head nod and took it as a yes. And then Sakano ended up ordering at least five more glasses of scotch, not able to believe what he'd just done. Maybe it had been the alcohol talking, but in retrospect, what Sakano had just said topped anything Taki had ever said to him.


	2. Ends and Means

Title: Ends and Means  
Author/Artist: Silvermagess  
Theme: Five Stages of Love-Romance  
Rating: PG  
Length: 500

The last thing Taki had ever planned on doing was asking Sakano out on a date. The guy was his drinking buddy of sorts, so why tamper with a good thing? That ship had sailed the moment the singer had gotten a few beers into him and decided for some reason that Sakano was cute. It wasn't the worst thing that Taki had done, though it wasn't the smartest thing either.

Once he'd gotten done cursing himself out, Taki picked up the phone and made reservations at one of the most expensive restaurants in town. And on the actual day, he made sure to buy flowers and wine, not sparing much expense. After all, if he was going to do this, he was going to do it right.

* * *

Which proved to be difficult on account of the fact that disaster seemed to follow Sakano everywhere. Or rather allergies, as the man seemed to be allergic to everything. The flowers stuffed him up and something in the food at the restaurant caused him to break out. Needless to say, the night hadn't gone as well as Taki had planned. Despite himself, he'd ended up demanding another date, more out of an attempt to make things right and not because he wanted to. 

Of course, Sakano continued finding some way to screw things up, which lead to more things. Taki was obsessive and slightly perfectionistic, so he could do no less than keep at it. Of course as with all obsessions, it wasn't too long before Taki forgot what the original end had been, since he was so focused on the means.

* * *

Now, Sakano didn't always mean to mess things up. He would have been perfectly content with the one date, which had been a disaster anyways. It was Taki who kept insisting on things being perfect. Which Sakano came to like, because it was normally he himself who was being so nitpicky. It was nice to be the one fussed over for a change. So much so that he came to fear when it would end, when that perfect date would be achieved.

So occasionally, he found himself doing little things to sabotage it. Like being late or pretending that a gift, while appreciated, wasn't exactly what he wanted. These, coupled with the unintended disaster that came natural to Sakano, were more than enough to extend the time they had together.

There were moments where Sakano felt a little guilty about manipulating Taki like that, but he always reminded himself that the ends justified the means. That was what he'd learned from Tohma Seguchi and he wasn't going to argue with the lesson's results. Because that fact was, he'd gone from being alone almost every Friday night of his life, to having every weekend booked. Even if Taki did complain about it the whole time, a night out was a night out.


	3. Last Words

Title: Last Words  
Author/Artist: Silvermagess  
Theme: Five Stages of Love-Passion  
Rating: PG  
Length: 500

It was raining out when things finally advanced beyond dating. They'd been walking down the street on what had been a bright sunny day when the rain clouds came out of nowhere and dumped about five inches of water on top of them. The two of them found shelter under an awning, but it was only a temporary fix due to the chill in the air. "You just had to insist we walk." Taki grumbled at Sakano, who was beginning to sniffle from cold.

"The weather man said clear skies." The producer said defensively, wiping his glasses clean. Taki gave him a dirty look, then shivered slightly, wrapping his arms around himself. "We need to get out of these wet clothes."

"Well duh." Of course, the problem was that they were a ways from home, so it wasn't like they could change. Sakano resigned himself to getting pneumonia when Taki got a contemplative look on his face. He'd learned that when the singer got that look, it generally meant that things got interesting for lack of a better word. "How about we check into a hotel?" Yes, that was the kind of interesting Sakano associated with him.

"A hotel as in..."

"A love hotel." Taki said it as casually as if he had just suggested they go for a walk in the park. "If you don't want to, then we won't"

"I didn't say I didn't want to." Actually, he didn't know if he really did or didn't. He'd been thinking they should since they'd been dating for about three months or so and marriage wasn't exactly an issue. But on the other hand, he wasn't sure he wanted Taki to see that side of him, ever.

"Then why don't we?" Fatal last words if ever there had ever been any, yet he couldn't find any coherent reasoning against them.

* * *

There were rather unpleasant side effects to a passionate first time. Aching in certain areas and the sheer amount of stickiness involved wasn't something Sakano had expected and it made caused his inner neat freak to hyper ventilate. Of course, Taki had insisted that they shower together afterwards, which had ended up making Sakano feel even dirtier.

"Did you hate it that much?" Taki had given him one of the most scathing looks in his life. And there had been many in the time that they had been together.

"No, I didn't. It just wasn't what I expected." At that moment, a grin crossed Taki's face, a really scary one, causing Sakano to gulp.

"Practice makes perfect." Sakano was really glad that he had tomorrow off, because he doubted that he was going to be able to walk like a normally human being after tonight. He also noted to himself that he was going to have to pay Taki back when he got a chance, in full.


	4. Weird

Title: Weird  
Author/Artist: Silvermagess  
Theme: Five Stages of Love-Intimacy  
Rating: PG  
Length: 500

Sakano knew he had no secrets of any import. That wasn't to say there weren't things he'd rather keep to himself, but he knew that in comparison to the secrets of others, his were boring. Still, he'd never allowed anyone into his apartment before, save for his mother and only after it was spotless.

So when Taki showed up unannounced and marched into his apartment, Sakano wasn't sure if the panic he was feeling was excessive or perfectly justified. Before he could run around and tidy up though, Taki had grabbed him by the shoulder and drug him towards the couch and sat him down. "Nice place you got here. Looks just like I thought it would." The singer said as he flopped down next to him.

"What did you expect?" Sakano was feeling a little defensive because he wasn't sure he wanted to know what Taki really thought. Usually the singer was only nice if he wanted something, so Sakano would rather have Taki being his bitchy self instead.

Leaning his head against Sakano's shoulder, Taki yawned. "Something neat and tidy, that looks like it's not really been lived in."

"I'm not a neat freak." Sakano pouted, knowing it for the lie it was. He just hated it when Taki pointed it out, because the implication was that he wasn't any fun, that he was boring.

"You are so a neat freak." Taki laughed a little, his hair tickling Sakano's cheek slightly. "I'm not saying that's a bad thing though. An annoying thing, but not a bad thing." It could have been worse, Sakano thought, so he decided to let things be.

After a few minutes though, Taki began to feel a little heavy, perhaps because Sakano wasn't used to someone physically leaning against him. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"I was just thinking that I'd never seen your place, that's all. I have you over all the time, so I thought fair was fair. The real question is, why haven't you ever invited me in?" There was deadly look in Taki's eyes, despite the friendly tone in his voice.

"Because I don't let anyone in. I don't want people to think I'm weird."

"People already think you're weird. I know I do."

Sakano glanced at him in shock and tried to get his jaw to work. When it did, the first thing that came out wasn't what exactly mature. "Not as weird as you!" Taki pulled him into a kiss before he could embarrass himself any further.

"If I'm so weird, what does that say about you? Sleeping with a complete weirdo?" It was frustrating when Taki was right, which seemed to be all the time.

"If you keep teasing me, I won't allow you into my apartment ever again." Even though Taki just laughed at him more, the singer didn't call him weird for the rest of the night.


	5. Reassurance

Title: Reassurance  
Author/Artist: Silvermagess  
Theme: Five Stages of Love-Commitment  
Rating: PG  
Length: 500 Notes: This is the final chapter, as the challenge is now finished. 

During Sakano's latest visit with his mother, these words had come up: "But, I just want my baby boy to get married." He was used to these complaints and had always assumed he would indeed be getting married, just not at that moment. This time around though, he'd been left with a strange, punched in the gut feeling. Especially when his mother asked to set him up with a nice girl who was the daughter of a friend's cousin's niece. And then he'd made the biggest mistake of all and mentioned that he was dating. Now his mother wanted to meet the "girl." Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe Taki wouldn't kill him and his mother wouldn't disown him.

* * *

"You're mental. Why would I want to meet your mother?" Taki had his arms crossed, looking up sulkily from the sofa as Sakano started to pace about nervously. "It's not like we're ever going to get married or anything like that." 

Sakano stood stock still, clenching his teeth, trying to keep from throwing a tantrum. "How do you know that?"

"Because guys can't get married." Taki deadpanned, spreading his arms wide as he stretched out on the couch. Sakano convulsively pulled at his hair, trying to figure out how to say what he needed to in a way that the singer would get. "Besides, what's the big deal? What does marriage prove?"

Suddenly, Sakano's body was overcome with little tics. "Commitment! Propriety! Devotion! Tradition! A demonstration of eternal love!" Okay, the producer had to admit that he'd gone a little overboard, but he didn't know how else to explain it.

"So are you trying to say that you want a little reassurance?" Taki rolled his eyes as he sat up, causing Sakano to gulp. "Are you trying to say that I'm not giving you enough? That I'm doing something wrong."

Now, Sakano knew exactly what the singer was doing. Taki was trying to lay a guilt trip on him, by acting like he was being under appreciated. It was a tactic that would catch most people who knew Taki off guard, since they were used to him being more temperamental. Not Sakano though, since he'd worked under the master of subtly, Tohma Seguchi for years.

Walking up to Taki, he grabbed onto the singer's shoulders and pushed him against the couch, then looked him in the eyes. "I want you to act like any decent human being and make up your mind. I know what I want; now it's time for you to tell me what you want."

Taki looked up at him like he had to be kidding. Then he shrugged, or tried to. "Fine, I'll meet your mother. Happy? Or do I need to buy a ring?" Sakano decided to let the sarcasm go and be satisfied with the fact that Taki had given in.


End file.
